America’s Core Institutions Are Rotten Across the Board

Lately it’s seemed to me that there’s a growing awareness that in the United
States, the core of central authority is rotten. It still stands, but if you
tap on it you can hear that it’s hollow.

I’m not just talking about the government, but the foundations of our economy
(not the bedrock, which will endure, but those foundations that we gave names
like “security” and “credit” and “trust” and we slapped down on the swamp — you can still see bubbles of swamp gas coming up from where they’re sinking).
And not just economic institutions, either, but many different central
institutions of authority.

This morning, while reading the descriptions of the disintegration of the Soviet Bloc in Jonathan Schell’s The Unconquerable World, an encouraging metaphor suggested itself to me.
I imagined a ripe seed attached to its parent plant, in a tight and populous cluster like that of the cattail for instance.
When the stalk dessicates and withers and no longer can maintain a hold on its seeds, the orderly cluster disintegrates and the seeds disperse — a catastrophe! and yet exactly what nature intended, and the only way the individual seeds can fulfill their own destinies.

After over 35 years, the weakness of the pro-life movement seems to be in our
comfort level. With few exceptions, pro-life warriors live a fairly
comfortable life. But comfortable warriors don’t fight very effectively.
Embarking upon a strike or tax resistance movement would dramatically elevate
the risks and lower the comfort level. It would require those involved to put
their lives and their livelihoods on the line. It would help us to embrace
the term “Church Militant”, and truly view ourselves as soldiers in Christ’s
army of love.

The strength of our pro-life witness is an important part of what’s at stake.
If we fight from a position of comfort, few will care. Likewise, if we pray
from a position of comfort, such prayer is cheap. But if we risk our lives
and livelihoods, people will notice, and many hearts will be moved. Our words
will be more convincing and our prayers more powerful if the cost is dear.

Find Out More!

For more information on the topic or topics below (organized as “topic →
subtopic →
sub-subtopic”), click on any of the ♦ symbols to see other pages on this site that cover the topic. Or browse the site’s topic index at the “Outline” page.